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Like many of you, I'm looking for the utopia of affordable housing. I'm getting married and my fiance and I will be looking to trade up to a better place in the next 6 months to a year. Right now, we both live in Westchester apartments/coops (I rent, she owns). We have a dog (my place allows it, hers doesn't). Her office is in Times Square, my office is in New Jersey, but I work from home a lot and rarely have to go in. That said, we would like our own house, however small, as opposed to a condo/coop. Or a townhouse if it had a small yard for the dog. Access to midtown and walking to the train is key for her, access to the airport is more important than commute for me. And we need it to be $500K or less. Preferably less.
I've heard a lot of complaining about Long Island on this forum, but it still seems like it has some advantages to me. In Westchester, you can't touch a free-standing, single family home in a decent area for less than $500K, but in Long Island, it seems like there are a few places where you can have a house within walking distance of the LIRR for $500K or less. What do you guys think of the areas around the Gibson or Island Park LIRR stations? Any other areas you would suggest? Decent schools are always good, but we don't have kids yet and we might move again before they're school-aged, who knows. I just want a nice comfortable neighborhood with low crime, although high crime and poor schools are generally a package deal.
So overall, I think LI is more affordable than Westchester, it's a buyer's market that will become even more of a buyer's market in the next 6 months to a year, and if you buy now and wait 5 years or so, it could easily bounce back and you'd see a nice appreciation. In Westchester, I think White Plains would be a great place to buy since the downtown area is getting built up and will make property values appreciate, but that really only gives you the condo/coop option below $500K, which is not what I want. If you disagree with any of my assumptions, feel free to share your opinion. Otherwise, please share your advice on which areas of Long Island are the best places for me.
I know you said LI but I think the commute from Westchester to Times Square is so much better. Metro North is comfortable, quick, convenient - much more so than the LIRR in my opinion. Plus there is so much traffic in LI!
There are single family starter homes for under $500K in Yorktown Heights and White Plains. Just check out the Westchester mls. I would search and consider those areas of Westchester as well. Don't rule out b/c of price right away b/c you never know.
So overall, I think LI is more affordable than Westchester, it's a buyer's market that will become even more of a buyer's market in the next 6 months to a year, and if you buy now and wait 5 years or so, it could easily bounce back and you'd see a nice appreciation. In Westchester, I think White Plains would be a great place to buy since the downtown area is getting built up and will make property values appreciate, but that really only gives you the condo/coop option below $500K, which is not what I want. If you disagree with any of my assumptions, feel free to share your opinion. Otherwise, please share your advice on which areas of Long Island are the best places for me.
Thanks.
You are dreaming if you think it is going to become a 'buyers market' (whatever that means) on Long Island in the next 6 months or so.
500K doesn't get you much on Long Island or Westchester unless you don't mind buying a starter home in a questionable area that needs about $50,000 - $100,000 worth of updates with taxes about $8,000 a year (cheap for Long Island & Westchester).
I am very familiar with parts of westchester, and in LI im only familiar with Long Beach/ Island Park areas. I know there are affordable places in westchester (central) where you can own a nice, small house with lower taxes around 5 or 6 K. The main area is indeed around WP, but more north. Greenburg and Mt Pleasant are towns that have nice, affordble, single family housing areas. Ossining is also to consider. In Greenburg Elmsford, Tarrytown and farview all have what you are looking for, however it is easier to find 2 or 3 family homes. In Mt. Pleasant there is Sleepy Hollow- on the river, Pleasantville- a bit more expensive and i think has higher taxes, and than thornwood, hawthorne and valhalla. Those three are very middle/ working class areas, with nice small single family homes. THey have a low crime rate and decent schools aswell. i dont know why, but they are much more affordable than other parts of WC. Elmsford in Greenburg is much like that too. For LI, i know long beach and Isl. Prk. are similar to the previously mentioned villages in WC. I think they are a bit more urban, but they do have more of a small town feel.
NickL28 -- If you need to know what a "buyer's market" means, I'll break it down for you. A buyer's market means that the advantages of the real estate market are squarely on the side of the buyer based on simple supply and demand. With an increase of supply and constant demand, buyers benefit. If you haven't been paying attention to the news lately, there a huge increase in foreclosures happening right now based on defaults in the subprime lending market. This affects both foreclosure "victims" and traditional homeowners, when their houses are in areas where their neighbors are being foreclosed on (see an article in the USA Today yesterday about a postal worker who had a 5000 square foot home with two kitchens). Americans have been buying more house than they can afford for years and now it's coming back to bite them. Nassau county has more foreclosures than Westchester per capita. And all the Long Islanders who are on this forum complaining and talking about moving to North Carolina or Florida are creating increased supply also. So we have a situation of increasing supply and roughly constant demand. Hence, a "buyer's market"
NickL28 -- If you need to know what a "buyer's market" means, I'll break it down for you. A buyer's market means that the advantages of the real estate market are squarely on the side of the buyer based on simple supply and demand. With an increase of supply and constant demand, buyers benefit. If you haven't been paying attention to the news lately, there a huge increase in foreclosures happening right now based on defaults in the subprime lending market. This affects both foreclosure "victims" and traditional homeowners, when their houses are in areas where their neighbors are being foreclosed on (see an article in the USA Today yesterday about a postal worker who had a 5000 square foot home with two kitchens). Americans have been buying more house than they can afford for years and now it's coming back to bite them. Nassau county has more foreclosures than Westchester per capita. And all the Long Islanders who are on this forum complaining and talking about moving to North Carolina or Florida are creating increased supply also. So we have a situation of increasing supply and roughly constant demand. Hence, a "buyer's market"
You are judging your info on USA Today which is one step above the National Enquirer. Step away from your TV and tabloid media for a little while before making dumb assumptions on what a buyers market is.
This 'Huge Increase in Foreclosures' is mostly media spin & sensationalism in order to force an unneeded bailout which will only cost 120 million. Looking at actual foreclosure statistics -- those from real evidence not foreclosure.com and these tabloid media papers you will see that foreclosures are still well below the levels of the early 1990's & mid 1980's. The economy is very strong with unemployment under 4.0% in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester & under 5.0% in NYC.
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